The International Film Festival “Salt of the Earth” (hereinafter referred to as the Festival) is organized to maintain and preserve the spiritual affinity and culture-historical unity of Russia, strengthen cultural contacts among the peoples of Russia and compatriots living in foreign countries, as well as popularize the unique Russian culture and world cultures that share spiritual and ethical values.
Only non-fictional (documentary) films can take part in the competition of the International Film Festival “Salt of the Earth”. At the competitive selection we will focus our attention on works that sincerely and professionally tell about our contemporaries, historical figures and events, as well as problems and conflicts in our lives.Only non-fictional (documentary) films can take part in the competition of the International Film Festival “Salt of the Earth”. At the competitive selection we will focus our attention on works that sincerely and professionally tell about our contemporaries, historical figures and events, as well as problems and conflicts in our lives.
The Festival is designed to support and unite both experienced and young filmmakers in Russia and other countries, and enables audience to get insight into the world of the best works of art, helps develop cross cultural communication, strengthens friendship and peace with the help of cinema.
The motto of the Festival: “Let yourself shine onto other people”
I. The founders and organizers of the Festival
1.1. The founder and organizer of the Festival is Samara Regional Public Foundation “Volga Region Historical & Cultural Fund”
1.2. The festival is supported by the Government of Samara region and Administration of city district Samara.
1.3. Partners of the Festival may be represented by government bodies, local governments, organizations of Samara or Samara region.
1.4. The festival has its own official symbols, printed on certificates, prizes and many other printing products and souvenirs.
II. Dates and Venue of the Festival
2.1. 19th International Film Festival “Salt of the Earth” takes place in September from 14th to 18th, 2026 in Samara.
2.2. The Festival takes place in two formats - traditional (film screenings and other festival events in cinemas, on open areas of the city, film screenings and festival events in educational and social institutions, etc.), and on the Festival’s platform on the Internet. The founders can choose one of the formats for the Festival.
III. Participants of the Festival
3.1. Participants of the festival can be Russian or foreign films- and TV- companies, creative associations, independent producers, individuals (authors) and other copywrite holders of non-fiction (documentary) films.
IV. Film categories (nominations)
4.1. Non-fiction (documentary) films can be nominated in the following categories:
«Here and now». Nominees – films, telling about contemporaries or reflecting events of the present.
«We don’t choose the times». Nominees – films, telling about people who made history and became examples for next generations, films on historical topics.
«Russian Cathedral». Nominees – films, telling about traditions and lifestyle of Russian people and other countries, about cross-cultural communication and cultural flow between different ethnic groups, about Orthodox culture in Russia and the world.
«Honor thy father and thy mother». Nominees – films, telling about relationships between family members and different generations.
«Where are we going?». Nominees – films, to speculate about complex and contradictory events in our life.
V. Festival Prizes
5.1. The symbol of the festival is Saint Michael the Archangel, who is the saint patron of all the people who struggle with evil inside themselves and all around.
5.2. The festival Prize – a statuette of Saint Michael the Archangel defeating an ancient serpent with a sword.
5.3. The Prize fund includes:
- - Bronze statuette of the St. Michael the Archangel awarded for the best film in any of the five categories presented.
- - Silver statuette of the St. Michael the Archangel awarded for the best camerawork.
- - Golden statuette of the St. Michael the Archangel (Grand prix) awarded for the best film of the festival.
Special prizes:
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- Prize of the Governor of the Samara region;
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- Prize of the Head of the city district of Samara;
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- Special prize, a silver statuette of the St. Michael the Archangel “For the Honor and Dignity of the Profession” is awarded for many years of service to documentary films;
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- Special prize from the Club of Honorary Citizens of Samara Region;
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- Special prizes from sponsors and organizers of the festival;
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- Special prize of the audience jury;
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- Special prize in the literary competition “My Fatherland - Russia” among students of educational institutions of the city of Samara and Samara region.
5.4. The organizing committee of the festival does not deliver prizes to laureates who did not participate in the awards ceremony.
5.5. The laureate can receive prizes from the Organizing Committee of the festival within six months after the award ceremony. The Organizing Committee assists the laureates in sending prizes by mail.
VI. Organisational structure of the contest
6.1. A selection committee is formed to select submitted films for the submission period.
6.2. The selection committee makes a list of nominees, a list of out-of-competition and special programs of the Festival.The list of nominees (in the program of the film festival) includes, along with national films, films of Russian, foreign production, films produced in accordance with international treaties of the Russian Federation together with film producers who are foreign citizens, stateless people, foreign legal entities;
6.3. To decide the winners, the Organizing Committee of the Festival set up a jury, consisting of both Russian and foreign filmmakers and other cultural figures.
VII. The procedure and terms of completing the submission form and film requirements
For the competition films should meet the purpose and the format of the Festival.
7.1. One film can be presented only in one nomination.
7.2. Films completed no earlier than January 1, 2025 are eligible for participation. Films in Russian must be accompanied by English subtitles. Films in foreign languages must either have a Russian voice-over (simultaneous translation) or be accompanied by Russian subtitles.
7.3. The selection committee can decide to change the category of the film.
7.4. To take part in the film selection one must complete the submission form on the site “Salt of the Earth”: https://solzemli-samara.ru/reglament/application
7.4.1. All materials listed below must be placed in a single folder in cloud storage. The online application must include one active link to this folder containing the complete set of materials. Submission of materials via separate links is not permitted.
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– Film in MP4 format;
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– Teaser in MP4 format;
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– Director’s photograph;
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– Stills from the film (no more than 5 images).
7.4.2. The application must indicate the film’s age rating and information regarding the presence of scenes depicting tobacco products, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption (where applicable). The age rating and an informational title card (disclaimer) regarding the presence of such scenes must be placed before the beginning of the film in accordance with Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 436-FZ dated December 29, 2010 “On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development” and Federal Law of the Russian Federation No. 15-FZ dated February 23, 2013 “On Protecting Public Health from Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke and the Consequences of Tobacco Consumption.”
7.4.3. The application must include information about the copyright holder and the year of production. This information must fully correspond to the data indicated in the film.
7.4.4. Files submitted as part of the application must be properly named:
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– The director’s photograph file must be named with the director’s first and last name;
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– The file names of the film and the teaser must exactly match the official title of the film indicated in the application.
7.4.5. The application must include a logline of the film not exceeding 30 words. The logline must reflect the main idea of the film. Texts exceeding the specified length will be returned for revision.
7.4.6. The director’s biography submitted in the application must be brief and include key information about their professional background.
7.4.7. The director’s filmography must indicate the year of completion of each film and be presented in chronological order, from earlier works to more recent ones.
7.5. The candidate, by sending the submission form, confirms the accuracy of this information, confirms the guarantees and consents in it in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
The form submitted in accordance with paragraph 7.4. of these Regulations is recognized as a genuine application with legal force. All claims arising from third parties the complainant will take up independently. The Festival reserves the right to cancel the submitted form in case of inability to resolve the conflict about participation at the Festival.
If necessary, the Organizing Committee of the Festival has the right to request a paper submission form signed by the applicant.
7.6. In the event that a film is nominated, the applicant must send to the Festival Organizing Committee (sol-zemli@mail.ru) a link to the screening copy of the film intended for theatrical exhibition.
The film must be provided in one of the following formats:
MP4 or MOV file format
- – Codec: H.264 or H.265;
- – Resolution: not less than 1920×1080 (Full HD); 2K (2048×1080) or higher preferred;
- – Bitrate: not lower than 20 Mb/s;
- – Frame rate: 24 or 25 fps;
- – Progressive scan (no interlacing);
- – Audio: stereo (2.0), 48 kHz sampling rate.
DCP 2K (DCI standard), unencrypted
- – Frame rate: 24 or 25 fps;
- – Image format: preferably FLAT (1998×1080);
- – Subtitles must be embedded in the DCP;
- – Audio: uncompressed WAV, discrete mono channels (5.1), 24-bit, 48 kHz.
Frame rates of 30 fps and higher are not permitted.
7.7. Any individual or legal entity submitting an application for participation in the Festival confirms that they hold all rights required under applicable law to submit the film to the Festival, including the right to its public screening (including online screening in the Festival’s online cinema). The applicant bears full responsibility for any violations of the legislation of the Russian Federation, including copyright and related rights.
Any claim submitted to the Festival Founder shall be settled by the applicant (Festival participant) independently and at their own expense. In the event of a dispute or legal claim, the applicant shall participate jointly with the Festival Founder in the proceedings and shall indemnify the Festival Founder for any losses incurred.
The Festival reserves the right to cancel the submitted application and to remove the film from the list of nominees or award winners in the event that a dispute regarding the film’s participation in the Festival remains unresolved.
7.8. The Festival does not accept films containing information the dissemination of which in the Russian Federation is restricted or prohibited or containing obscene words; films where request of the distribution certificate was refused on the grounds specified in subparagraphs “b” - “d” of item 18 of the Rules for the issuance, refusing to issue and revoking a film distribution certificate for a film, approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated February 27, 2016 N 143 “On approval of the Rules for issuing, refusing to issue and revoking a film distribution certificate and the Rules for maintaining the State Film Register”; films, where distribution certificate has been revoked on the grounds specified in subparagraph “e” of item 20 of these Rules for issuing, refusing to issue and revoking distribution certificate for a film.
7.9. Films are accepted for the Festival from March 5 to June 1, 2026.
7.10. After the deadline for submitting forms and films, the selection committee reviews all submitted works and makes a list of nominee films.
The selection committee does not provide written or oral explanations for its decision.
The list of films nominated for the festival is published on the official website of the festival no later than August 16, 2026.
7.11. The Jury of the Festival decides the winners (prize-winners) of the Festival.
At the Closing Ceremony of the festival, which will take place on September 19, 2025, there will be announced the winners and candidates will be awarded with prizes and memorable gifts.
7.12. The Founder of the Festival guarantees that he will not use and transfer films to third parties for commercial purposes and reserves the right to use film fragments, photographs of authors, directors, actors and other participants in festival screenings, advertising of the festival, educational and educational non-commercial events in his statutory activities without time limit and without payment of additional remuneration.
VIII. Conditions of stay during the Festival
8.1. The conditions of stay for participants and official guests of the festival are stipulated in personal invitations.
8.2. The organizing committee reserves the right to attract more participants to work at the festival.
8.3. People wishing to participate in the festival as guests must inform the organizers of the festival no later than August 20, 2026 and agree on the terms of participation, in this case, the expenses for travel, accommodation and meals are paid by the participants themselves.
IX. Festival events
9.1. The festival program includes the following events:
Opening ceremony of the Film Festival;
Film screening of the Festival nominees in the Khudozhestvenny CRC and other venues
Gala award ceremony of the Festival winners
Special events:
Out-of-competition film screening
Meet-the-artist events
Screening of films in educational and other social institutions of the city and Samara region for children, youth and adults
Retrospectives of famous documentary films
Workshops and motion-picture laboratories
Press conferences
Sightseeing tours of the Samara
Discussion at the “round table”
The date, time and order of film screening is set by the Organizing Committee of the festival after the festival program is completed. The program may be amended in accordance with the provisions of federal and state laws.
X. For the media
10.1. Admission to the events of the festival for media representatives (including those who shoot with professional equipment) is subject to accreditation by the Salt of the Earth IFF.
Applications for media accreditation are accepted from August 15, 2026. The application must be sent to the festival’s email address.
XI. Contacts of the Organizing Committee of the Festival
Samara Regional Public Foundation “Volga Region Historical & Cultural Fund”
Samara, 443010, st. L. Tolstoy, 46, office 6
Contacts:
Telegram: @annie_mav – festival administrator Mavlyutova Anna
e-mail: sol-zemli@mail.ru
Official web-site: http://solzemli-samara.ru
Social network VKontakte https://vk.com/solzemlifest
Official channel Rutube: https://rutube.ru/channel/38399718/
Official channel YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@sol-zemli/playlists
Social network Telegram: https://t.me/mkfsolzemli
XII. Final provisions
12.1. The festival does not store materials sent by email or on tangible medium (DVDs, flash drives with films, other printed information, photographs, applications for participation in paper and electronic form), which are disposed in the prescribed manner after the Festival ends. Films are not reviewed.
12.2. These Regulations may be amended (additions), which will be updated on the official website of the Festival.